You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 334 Special Department
"How are you feeling?" Roman rushed over to Aaron and gave him a bear hug!
“No different from usual,” Aaron said, a slight smile playing on his lips. His men said he was a tortoise, his expression as brooding and perpetual as a tortoise shell, but he was just not good at expressing himself; he wasn’t that boring. He only revealed his emotions when something touched his heart.

“I brought back many people.”

He handed the list to Roman; it was a labor of love for him.

Roman glanced at them and exclaimed with delight, "You did a great job! These are exactly the kinds of people I need!"

This list is enough to fill some of the vacancies, as the territory is growing larger and the production pressure is quite high.

He changed the production model and came up with a more efficient manufacturing process.

But those manufacturing processes require specialized personnel to learn.

There are hundreds of artisans, all highly skilled masters. One master craftsman can train two or three apprentices.

Cattle and horses are highly adaptable creatures; as long as you give them carrots, there's no millstone they can't pull.

His expansion strategy eliminated five noble nodes at once, with Apple Town being the biggest beneficiary.

Residents living in market towns are often smarter and more educated than those living in rural areas.

There were also a large number of literate lawyers and judges, trained by city universities, dedicated to serving power, and also available for employment, unlike family members who served as hereditary judges on some noble estate.

But Roman's reputation was so bad that no one was willing to work for him, fearing that they would be implicated if he fell from power.

Now we have no choice but to come.

"You did a really good job this time."

“It’s my duty,” Aaron said.

"I must reward you properly."

The rewards were daily necessities such as cloth, salt, and ironware. After each victory, Roman would distribute an extra batch of supplies as a reward to prevent these guys from breaking the rules due to shortages.

The benefits of this kind of incentive always outweigh the costs.

The residents and prisoners of war in this market town were all excellent laborers.

He wasn't affected by the rain disaster here; the sky was unbelievably clear. He also made a huge recruitment drive, with so much land waiting to be cultivated. Heaven knows how much labor shortage Origin City has.

Of course, having labor alone is not enough; if it cannot be effectively organized, it is a waste of food.

“Come, tell me in detail what you did over there.” Roman pulled Aaron to sit down in the castle hall.

He paid close attention to this operation, as it was the only time he had ever deployed troops abroad.

He had twice dispatched troops to distant lands. Once was to rescue Morey, but that could only be considered an expedition. The other time was to Sea Castle, but that cannot be used as a benchmark. When the people of Sea Castle saw Neliel return, they immediately knelt down.

What if Roman's army went somewhere else?

A town like Apple would certainly face numerous obstacles.

Even if those residents outwardly comply, they will secretly resist and trip you up unexpectedly. If you dare to let your guard down, they will dare to create unrest and claim to be defending their homeland.

Aaron was fighting on the front lines, so two thousand auxiliary soldiers had to guard the rear to prevent them from being attacked from behind.

Under the feudal system, who were the outsiders?
Roman is an outsider; his words only have effect in Origin City and Plenty City. Outsiders call him a blasphemer.

People in this era carry two great burdens in their hearts.

One was the Papacy, and the other was the nobility.

Don't assume that because nobles oppress them, they will hate them. In fact, their bones have long been domesticated into the shape of noble lords.

Roman, however, wanted to mold their servile nature into the shape he desired.

If he had 100,000 heavy armored vehicles, he would dare to conquer the entire land directly. Just by planting nails everywhere, he could quickly turn the land into a steel plate.

However, he has only trained 1,200 heavy infantrymen so far. This army is also the most culturally literate battalion in Roman's hands because the training time is long enough and it is not easy for them to be reduced in number.

Other professional teams might not be able to achieve this level.

It's too difficult to govern a place.

Roman heard from Aaron that he had ordered everyone to stay home and not go out, forcing most production work to stop; for example, taverns closed, blacksmiths shut down, and carpenters stopped working. Aaron ordered heavily armed soldiers to knock on doors and record information.

This brigade is responsible for this area, and that brigade is responsible for that area.

It took 1,200 literate veterans more than ten days to collect all the information from more than 6,000 residents.

It's slow, but there's no other way because we can't act alone.

In the early stages of the operation, several isolated heavy armored units were attacked by local residents in the narrow alleys. Fortunately, the heavy armored units were experienced and there were no non-combat casualties.

It would be a disgrace if they died on the way to visit others instead of on the battlefield.

After hearing these things, Roman couldn't help but fall into deep thought: how exactly should he govern those unruly people?

Military control is effective, but the current quality of Roman's troops is substandard—even the most skilled heavy infantry battalions are not. They can assist in production, but they cannot command production.

Not to mention that he wanted to take all the land for himself, redistribute it, and then improve the living environment, reform agriculture, popularize ironware, and improve manufacturing processes.

These matters are far too complicated, and each one is more difficult to implement than the last. Unless Roman himself is present, it is easy for things to go wrong, as Iolion's predicament is still fresh in everyone's mind.

He thought and thought but couldn't come up with a solution, except for one thing—he still had to rely on the army.

The military is the most organized group in social development.

But it's good enough that they can fight; it's unrealistic to expect them all to be all-rounders.

Like ordinary farmers, their learning and comprehension abilities are limited.

You tell the farmers that we are the people's army, but those ordinary farmers don't understand the meaning behind it at all.

Those unruly people are stubborn, greedy, suspicious, and blind... Damn it, Roman wished he could kill them all and purify the world. Once the next generation of children influenced by him grows up, things will be much easier.

But that would mean waiting ten years, and then there would be no one to do his work!
Just as Roman was at his wit's end, Aaron finished recounting his experience, then took the heavy cloth bag from his waist and handed it to him.
Roman opened it and was surprised to find that the bag contained hundreds of colorful gemstones and crystals.

"This was also seized by you?"

A faint smile appeared on Aaron's face: "We ransacked the entire town."

Prisoners of war and slaves were one part, gems were another, and gold, silver, and copper coins were yet another.

How much wealth does a prosperous commercial town actually possess?
It was difficult to count, but Aaron could give an approximate number, which, when added together, would be no less than five figures in gold coins.

Roman smiled as he looked at the gems. Other professional teams also had many gains, bringing back several to a dozen gems. They all knew that Roman lacked various resources, but it still came down to Aaron.

He gazed at the gems as if he had found a path to the future.

A special production department was established to select a group of soldiers with the best learning progress and give them a thorough brain upgrade!
Book recommendation! — "Fairy, I'm Really a Good Person," already at 400,000 words, no longer a seedling. Interested readers can add it to their favorites.
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(End of this chapter)